Syrian army breaks two-year IS siege on airbase

State media claim that the Syrian military has successfully broken a two-year siege by Islamic State militants on an airbase in the north of the country.

Euronews reports that the army had fought its way into Kweires airbase near Aleppo freeing hundreds of military personnel hold up inside since 2013 and state television broadcast live footage for the airbase of a reporter announcing the news and playing victory songs.

The event is being described as “the highest profile victory” for Syria’s army since Russia began airstrikes in support of President Bashar-al Assad targeting what it calls “terrorists”.

In other news, some 22 people were killed and many more wounded by rebel shellfire in the Mediterranean city of Latakia, after two blasts struck two separate areas of the city on Tuesday according to state media.

Russian document proposes constitutional reform and elections in Syria

According to reports on the BBC, a Russian document circulating at the United Nations has proposed a constitutional reform process in Syria, which would last some 18 months, to be followed by presidential elections.

The document, an eight-point proposal, reportedly fails to say whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should remain in power during that time, but it says certain Syrian opposition groups should take part in key talks on the crisis in Vienna on Saturday. Critics of Assad say that peace will not be possible unless he is removed from his position.

The BBC adds that a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said that the priority ahead of next Saturday's key summit should be to establish which Syrian opposition groups are to be regarded as partners in the process, and which are to be considered "terrorist" and unacceptable.

According to Rueters, the document does however point out that the reform process should not be chaired by President Assad, but by a candidate agreed upon by all sides and it also calls for UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura to launch a political process between the Syrian government and "a united delegation of opposition groups" on the basis of the June 2012 agreement between major powers in Geneva, which calls for the formation of a transitional government for Syria.

Some 20 countries and international groups are expected to attend the talks having the central aim of a ceasefire between Assad's forces and some opposition groups. The conflict in Syria has killed over 250,000 and displaced countless others.